Nobelist Yunus Says Bangladesh Threatens Grameen Bank’s Autonomy

Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel Prize-
winning microfinance pioneer, said Bangladesh’s government is
trying to oust him as managing director of Grameen Bank in an
attempt to take control of the institution.

“Our government feels that it would like to take control
of the bank by getting into the bank and trying to get me to
step down in an aggressive way,” Yunus said in comments
delivered via video link today at a microcredit conference in Washington. “We hope we can survive and keep the character of
the bank and keep the independence of the bank.”

A Bangladesh court today delayed a decision on a petition
filed by Yunus, 70, aiming to block his removal, lawyer Kamal
Hossain said in a telephone interview from Dhaka. Bangladesh’s
central bank, which is also the country’s financial regulator,
sought to relieve Yunus of his duties, citing non-compliance
with its rules, the Financial Times reported on March 3.

Grameen sought legal advice after its government-appointed
chairman said Yunus had been removed, according to a March 2 e-
mail statement from Jannat-E Quanine, a Grameen spokeswoman.
Yunus has been at odds with the government over allegations that
he misappropriated funds meant for the bank.

Yunus, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for his work
in founding Grameen, breached Bangladesh retirement norms by
continuing to head the lender beyond age 60, K.M. Abdul Wadood,
general manager for banking regulation and policy at the central
bank, said on March 1.

“We have written to Grameen Bank that Muhammad Yunus can
no longer continue to be the managing director,” Wadood said in
a telephone interview last week. “Grameen Bank is bound to
follow our instructions.”

Bangladesh’s government owned 5 percent of Grameen Bank as
of January, with the rest held by borrowers, according to the
lender’s website.

Poorest of the Poor

Grameen Bank provides credit to the poorest of the poor in
rural Bangladesh without any collateral, reaching 97 percent of
villages and 8.35 million borrowers in Asia’s poorest nation,
according to its website.

The company extends so-called microcredit, based on the
view that credit should be seen as a human right and that loans
should be extended based on people’s potential rather than the
collateral they possess, according to the website.